


Roses

by MageOfTheLufaines



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Human Names Used, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Only slight angst, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 06:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1541537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageOfTheLufaines/pseuds/MageOfTheLufaines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When guilt from fighting leaves Tino depressed, Berwald shows him all is not lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roses

_It all started with a single rose._

One of Finland’s greatest wars had been fought and the peace treaty signed meant Finland could stay independent. Yet even with the celebrations and the pride in his people, Tino seemed to slip into a deep sadness. It felt like he was as cold as a dying stone with no purpose now that he’d taken part in that war. Life became a dull grey to him and he never interacted with anyone unless it was necessary.

He didn’t know whether this sudden depressed feeling was something every country went through after they’d fought and killed innocent people. He didn’t even understand why, after all the wars fought by Berwald’s side, this one made him feel any different. The wars before were his as well as Berwald’s right?

All he did know was that every night, with his head pressed to the window and his eyes gazing at the stars sparkling above, he would cry. The tears would run down his face before dripping onto his scarred hands. He wouldn’t stop for a long time after that, just letting the cold of the window pane seep slowly through his head. It helped numb the pain a bit, but it was still there.

However when he’d given up with himself, there was always one person who was willing to pick him up and teach him about the beauties of a world stained by destruction.

 

He saw the blue rose in his garden when Berwald had come to check up on him.

As he saw the Swede walk away from the house, he noticed it swaying gently in the breeze and had to stop Berwald before he walked away completely.

"Did you plant this?” he asked, pointing to the single flower. Berwald nodded, looking at the flower. This led Tino to feeling confused. “Why did you plant it?” he further questioned.

“I-I wanted t’ show you something.” was all he replied with as he walked off. His cryptic answer led Tino feeling more confused and slightly annoyed.

A few more days passed before Berwald’s next visit and once again a rose was planted. Tino never seemed to see Berwald plant the flowers so he must have made a hole for them before. Once again, when asked why he had planted it he said that he had something to show him. The answer made him frustrated, wanting to know what these roses meant. It was only a week later when he was finally shown what Berwald meant with the flowers, when a plethora of blue roses appeared.

They sat together on the grass, watching the flowers bob in the breeze. Tino stared at them before asking about them. Luckily he got an answer.

“I know what’s wrong… th’ pain ‘f fighting is eating away ‘t you…” Berwald explained and all Tino could do was nod. “Well… ‘m here to teach you. T’ show you that th’ world is still beautiful,” he continued after a few minutes of silence. His gaze slowly moved towards Tino and he watched him stare at the flowers.

“How could you help me? I’m broken…” Tino asked, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. That was when he felt an arm wrap slowly around his waist.

“What d’ you see?” Berwald asked, gesturing to the flowers.

“Roses,” was Tino’s very simple reply.

“Look harder. What d’ they remind you ‘f?” he questioned, wanting Tino to see more than the obvious. Tino frowned but forced himself to look harder and suddenly it was like a sea of blue had erupted right before his eyes. He didn’t fully understand what Berwald had tried to tell him but it made more sense than before. Berwald ended up explaining to him about the life of a rose, and how something so beautiful could be deadly as well. He told him that they were prone to disease and would soon die off, their leaves would turn brown and they’d slowly fall to the soil beneath. Tino suddenly realised what he meant as he leant against Berwald’s body. He decided to voice what he’d learnt.

“A rose symbolises this country. Which is why it’s blue…” he began. “The land I live in, the land that makes me who I am, is beautiful yet can kill you if you’re not careful. War is the disease. War ravages the land and destroys the beauty, making the roses petals fall…”

“Exactly. But a rose ‘s not dead. You can save ‘t,” Berwald said, letting Tino lean against him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, even ‘f a rose dies th’ seeds will become beautiful flowers themselves. The rose produces others to keep it’s legacy going ‘nd to make sure ‘t doesn’t die off completely. Beauty comes from th’ destruction of a plant.”

“The way it produces others is symbolic to my people… they rebuild their land and make it beautiful again. But what about the death of innocent people?”

“I told you before, a rose ‘s deadly,” Berwald replied, not going into any more detail. Tino would have to figure it out for himself.

For the rest of the month, Berwald started to plant white roses. He waited for Tino to figure out what a rose’s spikes represented as the plants evened out. Twenty blue and twenty white. It was only when the last one had been planted that Tino came rushing out and pretty much leapt himself at Berwald.

“I know what you meant! A rose needs to protect itself yet it manages to hurt. It doesn’t make the rose evil for life needs to protect so it can reproduce and keep on going…” Tino told him, feeling his cheeks flush as Berwald smiled softly.

“Th’ rose is you Tino.” Berwald said, pulling him close. For once Tino let himself be hugged, finding comfort in Berwald’s arms.

“But why Berwald? What does this do?” he asked, looking up at him slowly with eyes full of questioning.

“Tino, you should know that this war will leave its scars but you can’t let ‘t destroy you. It’s taken your land but I don’t want ‘t taking away th’ most wonderful man I’ve had th’ pleasure ‘f meeting…” he replied, wanting to kiss him and shower him with the love he deserved.

Tino’s eyes widened and he felt his cheeks go a deep red as he looked up at Berwald. “You can’t mean that…” he muttered, shaking his head.

“I want t’ teach you th’ beauty of this world again… want t’ make you happy,” Berwald said softly before ever so slowly reaching down and brushing their lips together. Tino’s cheeks flushed even more as they kissed. Berwald’s lips were soft and gentle, guiding him in the kiss. He didn’t feel scared of Berwald as his heart raced in his chest, letting them kiss for a while longer before pulling away.

“Y-You love me?” was all he could ask, staring up at Berwald. The nod he got made his heart race and he leant his forehead against Berwald’s chest gently, breathing in his scent. “I’ll let you teach me Berwald…”

 

For months after that, Berwald showed Tino the beauties of the world. He told him about how, as a country known for fighting in many wars, he was constantly scarred and guilt ridden. But then he said that you have to learn that that is their life. A country cannot change his or her fate no matter what. The roses became a symbol of their own relationship and many days they would sit together watching them. The depression slowly left Tino and his guilt, even though it was still there, wasn’t making him feel pain any more.

Tino didn’t know what he’d do without his new found lover. Without him he wouldn’t understand that something deadly would soon turn into something beautiful. Berwald was patient and caring, holding him close when he started to cry. He would be comforted by Berwald’s words and soon he became the country he was before. He would laugh and smile constantly now as well as cuddle Berwald whenever he had the chance.

Berwald had showed him the way and he had tried again. All because of a single blue rose.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a small one shot based on the song of the same name by Poets Of The Fall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS2b1eSWUdo). There are some bits lifted from the lyrics. 
> 
> It was written after a few months of not writing a thing so excuse the writing skills. It's based after the Winter War and I have tried not to include any historical facts but the basics (like the Moscow Treaty) as when it was written I knew very little about it.


End file.
